Tartini, Giuseppe

Tartini, Giuseppe

(jo͞ozĕp`pā tärtē`nē), 1692–1770, Italian violinist, the greatest violin master of his day. In 1728 he founded at Padua a school of the violin that became known throughout Europe. Tartini altered the shape of the bow, revised bowing technique, and was probably the first to discover the difference tone (see tonetone.
In music, a tone is distinguished from noise by its definite pitch, caused by the regularity of the vibrations which produce it. Any tone possesses the attributes of pitch, intensity, and quality.
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), which became a means of securing just intonation. He wrote a number of theoretical works and composed an estimated 150 violin concertos, many trio sonatas, and about 200 solo sonatas, among which The Devil's Trill, supposedly played to him by the devil in a dream, is the most famous.

Tartini, Giuseppe

 

Born Apr. 8, 1692, in Pirano, Istria; died Feb. 26, 1770, in Padua. Italian violinist, composer, music theorist, and teacher.

A student of the Bohemian composer B. Černohorský, Tartini worked principally in the orchestra of the Basilica di Sant’ Antonio in Padua. He headed the Padua school of violin playing. His students included P. Bini, P. Nardini, and M. Lombardini-Sirmen.

Tartini developed and enriched the devices and variety of expression available to the violin. He composed concerti, sonatas, and other works for violin, including the popular sonata entitled Devil’s Trill. Tartini was also the author of theoretical works, including A Treatise on Music (1754) and A Treatise on Ornamentation (1782). He was the discoverer of the phenomenon of combination tones. Tartini perfected bowing technique and the manner of rapid execution of strokes in his The Art of the Bow, containing 50 variations on a theme by Corelli.

REFERENCES

Capri, A. G. Tartini. Milan, 1945.
Rubeli, A. Das musiktheoretische System G. Tartinis. Winterthur, 1958.